Johanensburg - Gauteng Premier David Makhura says the ANC and his provincial government did not make any proposal to increase income tax to fund e-tolls.
Makhura was reacting to DA and media reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet was likely to consider a proposal to discount e-tolls by 70%.
It was, however, the DA’s allegations that irked Makhura, prompting him to react with outrage to the claims that his party was proposing an increase in income tax to pay for the controversial e-tolls - which many motorists refuse paying.
Makhura’s reaction came after DA spokesperson on roads and transport Janho Engelbrecht told the media over the weekend that he had reliably learnt that the ANC was proposing to increase income tax to pay for e-tolls.
Engelbrecht said this was unacceptable and would place further strain on overburdened residents.
“In addition to this, residents will also be taxed further in order to pay for the proposed National Health Insurance Fund that government wants to implement. The DA has been against the implementation of e-tolls since their inception,” he said.
Makhura slammed Engelbrecht for his comments, saying a final decision on e-tolls has yet to be made.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa has tasked the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Finance and the Premier of Gauteng to make proposals on a lasting solution with regards to the stalemate on e-tolls in Gauteng.
"The three leaders have been hard at work to find a solution, even extending the invite to relevant stakeholders,” said Makhura’s spokesperson, Vuyo Mhaga.
“The false claim about an increase in income tax is a scarecrow and red herring by the DA,” Makhura said.
He said instead of the DA making concrete proposals on how to solve problems, the DA was adopting scare tactics.
Meanwhile, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has again called on the government to scrap e-tolls. Outa’s Wayne Duvenage repeated his organisation’s call following the media reports that the Cabinet was likely to consider a proposal to discount e-tolls by 70%.
“Reducing e-toll tariffs in the hope that compliance and revenue will increase won’t rectify the dismal e-toll revenue situation and will make matters worse when it comes to settling the bonds. What’s needed is to abolish the e-tolls and seek alternative funding for the Sanral debts,” Duvenage said.
He said current compliance levels were about 20%, bringing in just R55million a month, which was a shortfall of almost R250m a month.